


Anatomically Incorrect Walruses

by CosmoKid



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-03 05:37:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10960803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmoKid/pseuds/CosmoKid
Summary: Enjolras doesn't tell his boyfriend it's his birthday so Grantaire draws him a walrus to make up for it.





	Anatomically Incorrect Walruses

**Author's Note:**

> okay so this is a birthday present for an internet friend and its based off what happened on my birthday so yeah happy birthday!
> 
> (sorry i didnt tell you i had an ao3 account or that i post stuff, i can explain i promise)

Enjolras is _not_ a shitty boyfriend. Okay, so maybe Enjolras never remembers to go grocery shopping and maybe he makes his boyfriend shitty pasta and maybe he’s late home at least three times a week and maybe he doesn’t tell his boyfriend when it’s his birthday, but that doesn’t make him a shitty boyfriend. 

Okay, maybe it makes him a _bad_ boyfriend, but it doesn’t make him a _shitty_ boyfriend.

Plus, he never went grocery shopping when he lived with Courfeyrac and Combeferre. And to be fair, neither did they. He’s still not sure how the three of them managed to survive on shitty takeaway and noodles for five years. 

And he makes everyone shitty pasta, it’s an Enjolras speciality! And Marius makes even shitter pasta and Cosette swears he’s not a shitty boyfriend.

Coming home late is also an Enjolras speciality and it’s not like Grantaire isn’t expecting it by now. Nine out of ten times he’s waiting on the sofa with a cup of hot cocoa and a smile. And he’s fairly certain ‘late’ isn’t in their vocabulary. Grantaire’s an artist that paints at all hours in the day and Enjolras is a firm believer that time is just a social construct and therefore, he can’t be late. 

And okay, he didn’t tell Grantaire it was his birthday. But he didn’t tell anyone it was his birthday, the only reason they even found out is because Ferre and Courf burst in on his lunch breaks with gifts, cards, gift cards, glitter, and a milkshake. 

(They’re very lucky they bought the milkshake because he was ready to kill a man after the glitter storm courtesy of Courf because of course it would be Courf).

The point is, he doesn’t tell anyone it’s his birthday because time is a social construct and therefore, his birthday is a social construct and he shouldn’t have to celebrate it because it’s embarrassing and he doesn’t like all the attention. And he doesn’t care that it hurt when Bahorel jokingly punched him for not telling him because it’s not his birthday right now. He refuses.

Okay, it hurt a little, but not enough for him to feel bad about not telling anyone it’s his birthday. It means he doesn’t have to deal with that horrendous birthday song and it means he doesn’t get _that many_ presents.

Well that’s a lie, but only because Courf is a psychic asshole who somehow knew that Enjolras wasn’t going to tell anyone it was his birthday and decided to overcompensate.

And plus loads of people ignore their birthdays, it’s not that uncommon of a thing. Birthdays aren’t celebrated by everyone and birthdays are stupid.

And his sister has a ‘birthweek’ so him not having a birthday balances it out.

So anyway, his point is that not telling Grantaire about his birthday might make him a _little_ bit of a bad boyfriend, but it does not make him a shitty boyfriend so if Courf could stop saying that, he’d be very pleased right now. 

He has an article that he needs to finish right now and Courf’s constant reminders to tell his boyfriend that it’s his birthday are not helping at all. And plus, Grantaire has a very important painting to finish at his studio so he does not need Enjolras’ input right now.

“You,” Courf begins _again_ , “You should tell him.”

“We’ve gone over this before Courf, I shouldn’t tell him it’s my birthday because A I have an article to finish, B he has a painting to finish, and C time is a social construct so technically, no it’s not my birthday and as you have pointed out many times, it’s bad to lie to my boyfriend so therefore, I cannot tell him.” Enjolras gives Courf a quick, exasperated look before turning back to his laptop.

“Yet you’re lying by not telling him that it’s your birthday!” Courf points out, sounding completely and entirely done with Enjolras.

“Withholding the truth is not lying Courfeyrac,” he replies smoothly, taking a sip of the coffee beside him. He’s stuck on one paragraph and he’s rewritten it at least a hundred times and he just can’t get it right. It’s unbelievably frustrating.

Really, all he wants to do right now is to hug and kiss his boyfriend. There’s something about Grantaire that lights up a room and Enjolras just loves him so much and him being there just makes it better.

Even when he argues Enjolras’ points. He does it so well which is also very attractive and it actually helps him to smooth out his articles and makes it better. Grantaire really just makes everything in Enjolras’ life better.

“Not in the eyes of the Lord!” Courf exclaims dramatically, standing up from his place on the couch and shrugging Combeferre’s arm off his shoulders in doing so. Ferre makes a little noise in protest but doesn’t say anything.

“A little help here?” he asks Ferre who just gives him a small smile and shakes his head. Enjolras sighs deeply, putting his head in his hands. “Courfeyrac, I hate to break it to you, but you’re an atheist.”

“And you are a bad boyfriend!” 

“I am not a ba-” He stops himself when the two of them both raise their eyebrows in uniform silence. He rolls his eyes in response, but it doesn’t stop them. “Okay, I’m a bad boyfriend, but I’m still not telling him.”

Courf sits back down, his eyebrows still perfectly raised. He doesn’t speak and just takes his phone out of his pocket and starts tapping away at it, his mouth slowly curling up in a smirk. 

“What are you doing?” He turns to Comebeferre when Courf doesn’t respond. “What is he doing?”

“Oh nothing!” Courf says loftily, leaning back on the sofa. A smirk is clearly planted on his face at this point. Enjolras narrows his eyes at him, a glare forming.

He jumps when his phone vibrates in his pocket. Courf lets out a small laugh at that and he narrows his gaze even more. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Courf repeats, sounding more amused by the second. Enjolras sends one more glare his way before taking out his phone and seeing many messages pop up.

 _[From Grantaire] ___  
_YOU SIR ARE AN ASSHOLE_  
_IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND I FIND OUT FROM COURF_  
_I HATE YOU_  
_YOU ARE A BAD BOYFRIEND_  
_HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY???????????????????_  
_YOU ARE GETTING A PRESENT_  
_preferably when im less broke so now you have to settle for a shitty drawing of a walrus when i finish it asshole_

____

He looks up from his phone and zeroes in on Courfeyrac. “I hate you.”

Courf just raises his eyebrows again until Enjolras relents and turns back to his phone to reply to Grantaire. He still flips Courf off absentmindedly. 

_[To Grantaire]_  
_I’m sorry I didn’t tell you it was my birthday, I don’t tell anyone it’s my birthday if that helps._

 _[From Grantaire]_  
_that DOES NOT help, i am you BOYFRIEND not anyone asshole_  
_happy birthday btw_

He chuckles lightly at the text, a small smile growing on his face. He’s always found that it difficult not to smile when he talks to Grantaire.

There’s just something so amazing and heartwarming about talking to Grantaire. To be completely truthful, he still feels his heart speed up every time Grantaire walks into a room. He still gets butterflies in his stomach and looking at his boyfriend just makes his heart swell and pound in his ear. Just thinking about Grantaire makes him smile.

And Grantaire looks at him like he still can’t believe Enjolras is there and god, he loves Grantaire so much. And he wants to be there every time, even when Grantaire doesn’t look like that. He doesn’t think there’s a day that could go by where he won’t love Grantaire.

He’d mistaken the feelings as infuriation, to begin with. Well, at the start, he hadn’t even noticed the butterflies or the sped up heartbeat. No one said Enjolras was good at feelings or that he liked having them enough to notice these things.

(And yes Jehan, he knows feelings are what makes him human, but so does oxygen and he doesn’t feel that fondly towards that either.)

When he’d first noticed the butterflies, he was halfway through a conversation with Combeferre when he heard Grantaire and Bossuet talking and he’d just trailed off which Ferre had found very hilarious. He’s not joking when he says he’s not good at feelings. He had no idea how to feel about these new revelations and had taken it as new sign of annoyance.

Yes, he _is_ that bad at feelings.

It was only when Bossuet had spilled something on Grantaire and he’d taken his shirt off without hesitation and something stirred Enjolras downstairs and he realized _oh, maybe I was a little off with the annoyance idea_.

He shakes his head at the memory, a bright smile painted on his face now. He focuses back on his phone and talking to his boyfriend.

(He still finds it hard to believe he can call Grantaire that even after months of dating.)

 _[To Grantaire]_  
_Thank you_  
_I am sorry though xx_

 _[From Grantaire]_  
_apology half accepted_  
_we are having a strongly worded conversation about this when i get home_  
_but for now, you have to deal with a shitty drawing of a walrus [Attached Multimedia File]_

Enjolras takes a moment to take in the drawing. Grantaire always calls his sketches shitty, but they’re always far from it, especially now. He can’t help the bright, wide grin that grows on his face when he looks at the drawing. It’s an amazing recreation for just a sketch and in the corner of the paper, he’s written:

 _Happy Birthday Asshole!_  
_Vive La France!_

He grins even wider at that and he really could not care less that both Courf and Ferre are staring at him with amusement clear in their eyes with knowing looks on their faces.

 _[To Grantaire]_  
_I love it! And I love you so much! Thank you xx_  
_It is seriously amazing thank you Grantaire :)_

 _[From Grantaire]_  
_calm down apollo its not that good. it’s a shitty anatomically incorrect drawing of a walrus, not a picasso_

 _[To Grantaire]_  
_I don’t care, it’s amazing and I love it and I love you and you’re amazing at art and at drawing walruses and it’s a perfect birthday present and I just love you so much because you’re so talented and an amazing boyfriend_

 _[From Grantaire]_  
_were still having a strongly worded conversation about you not telling me its your birthday btw_  
_and its still a shitty drawing_  
_but i love you too Apollo xx_

And a strongly worded conversation they do have when Grantaire gets home, but the words are more of ‘fuck’, ‘yes’, ‘more’, and ‘I love you’ than he’s expecting not that it’s a bad thing. It’s actually a very good thing.

And much to Grantaire’s dismay, he frames the picture and hangs it above their TV and intends to keep it forever. And he definitely intends to keep Grantaire forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
>  
> 
> come scream with me on [tumblr](https://island-of-asteria.tumblr.com/)


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